With thousands of empty square feet in malls and big boxes everywhere, and fewer retail options to fill them, creative minds have found ways to bring experiences — ways to make lasting memories — to vacant storefronts, and shore up bottom lines in the process.

In Memphis, there are escape rooms and Topgolf, of course, but also go-kart racing, drone courses and now at Wolfchase Galleria, Mini Claw, a gaming concept that comingles the nation’s growing fondness for Asian-inspired plushies and its wish for diversion. 

Lei Wang, a Chinese national long in the import business, partnered with Monica Pham and Tommy Fan, who own ethnic grocery stores in Memphis, to launch the first Mini Claw.